The Pirate and the Pagan Read Online Free PDF Page B

come.”
    “There’s no money to pay for it, what will I do?” asked Cat helplessly.
    “Well, I think we’ve both had experience in coping when there’s no money.” She removed the silver leash from the white Persian cat and it jumped up on the brocade settee. “First things first. You look like you haven’t eaten in a week.”
    “I’ve eaten twice.”
    “Today?”
    “No … this week.”
    “Oh, darling, you are droll. We need something to cheer us up. For dessert we’ll have strawberries. I’m particularly partial tostrawberries,” she drawled. “I’ll feed you and bathe you, and then we’ll do what women do best. We’ll talk, darling.”
    Lil found her a snow-white nightgown beribboned and decorated with lace. It was easily the prettiest garment she had ever worn. Her freshly washed hair curled damply about her face as she sat beside the bedchamber fire to dry it.
    “Now then, darling,” said Lil in her beautiful, husky drawl, “your father asked me to give you this book and these papers. Said something about a black man which made no sense.”
    Cat unsealed the large parchment and slowly began to decipher the legal words. Suddenly she jumped up and sent her stool flying. “The man should burn in hell!” she cried. “He’s mortgaged Roseland to the hilt and the note is due! My God, if he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him!” She paced the room and tore open a second paper. “Oh, no! It’s a bill of sale for my horse, Ebony. Rancid old bastard! I’ve got to get home … I’ve got to get some money … but how?”
    “It has always been my experience, Summer darling, that since men control all the wealth, it is only logical that a woman who needs money must get it from some man.”
    “You mean marry for money?” asked Cat with loathing. “I don’t think I could ever marry, not even for money. All men are vile and selfish. If I married someone wealthy, my money problems might be solved, but my other problems would just be starting and I’d be saddled with him for the rest of my life. The last thing I want is marriage!”
    “Oh, darling, it isn’t as simple as that. In London marriage, I’m afraid, is completely out of fashion. Liaisons are all the rage now, you see, but in your case even that would be almost impossible.”
    “Why?” asked Cat bluntly.
    Lady Richwood hesitated then decided to speak plainly. “You are out of fashion. They are mad for blondes at the moment. Black hair on a woman is considered ugly, foreign, Portuguese like the poor unfortunate Queen. Darling, let me be blunt with you. You stride about in boots like a man, swearing and saying exactly what you think. Men don’t want that. They want a painted doll who smiles sweetly, eats like a bird, dresses like an angel, has the manners of a lady, someone who is dainty, amusing, and acquiescent.”
    “Acquiescent?” repeated Cat suspiciously.
    “Willing to do whatever they ask in bed,” supplied Lil.
    “So that’s what liaison means,” said Cat, shuddering. “Men are so disgustingly evil. In this world men do all the taking and womendo all the giving. It’s not fair! You are suggesting I sell my body for money to some lecherous old man. I’d much rather steal the money. It wouldn’t bother my conscience to steal from a man.”
    “Darling,” Lil said patiently, rolling the word about her mouth until it came out like a caress, “in London men keep their wealth safely deposited with a goldsmith or banker, it’s not left lying about for thieves. I think you have the spirit to be a great adventuress. Why not turn the tables for once? Use men the way they usually use women. You have great ‘potential’ beauty, darling, and if you are the clever girl I think, you could save Roseland and live the rest of your life in luxury. By the use of flattery and promises I’d be willing to bet you could get your hands on some dear man’s fortune, and when it came time to pay the piper you could get away with actually